How I Met Your Mother - Recap: The Next One
Recap and review of How I Met Your Mother - Season 9 Episode 16 - How Your Mother Met Me:
Well that was charming. Seriously. I can't remember the last time I was as completely dazzled by an episode of How I Met Your Mother as I was by "How Your Mother Met Me". What's funny about it, of course, is that it's an episode that exists as a sort of proof-of-concept for a show that might have been, in which we follow this particular woman on her search to find the particular man around whom much of this series has been centered. I know CBS is planning on doing something like this with its upcoming HIMYM spin-off, but I found myself wishing we could have gotten nine seasons of Cristin Milioti as well. In short, this is my favorite episode of the season, which is surprising since the show packs nine years of story into a half-hour bloc.
Credit: CBS
"How Your Mother Met Me" answers the question of what The Mother (Cristin Milioti) has been up to for the last nine years, and though her story is relatively self-contained, it occasionally intersects with the story of our main cast, in interesting fashion. For instance, "The Naked Man" (the weirdo whose big sex move was surprising his dates with nudity) turns out to be one of The Mother's old "orchestra camp" friends. Meanwhile, we see other important moments in the HIMYM mythology: The Mother meeting Cindy (Rachel Bilson) in the econ class that Ted (Josh Radnor) mistakenly proctors, thinking it's Architecture 101 (in a poignant little moment, Cindy encourages a despairing Mother to put herself back out there, saying that after "The One" comes "The Next One"). We see the origins of Darren (Andrew Rannells), who starts out as a fan of The Mother's band, before becoming a tyrant who overtakes the entire project. Hell, we even see the strange journey of the yellow umbrella, as The Mother leaves it at the club one night, and it ends up in Ted's possession, before looping back around to The Mother's apartment when Ted breaks up with Cindy. It's a wonderful way of illustrating all the near-misses between Ted and The Mother over the years, as they often come within moments of actually meeting, whether it's in McLaren's or on campus, but just miss each other.
Credit: CBS
But the episode is primarily about The Mother's emotional arc, and the journey she takes en route to meeting Ted. On the night Ted met Robin (Cobie Smulders) nine years ago, The Mother was celebrating her 21st birthday. The night, however, ends in tragedy when her boyfriend, Max, is killed in a car accident. Thus begins The Mother's downward spiral into depression and solitude, as she spends two years mourning him before even considering going out for a night on the town again (and even then, she needs to be coaxed into it by her best friend). It takes even longer for The Mother to decide she's ready for a relationship. However, when she does, she finds that the connection she has with boyfriend Louis (Louis Ferrigno, Jr.) isn't really love. However, this doesn't exactly stop Louis from proposing to her anyway, leading to the emotional climax of the episode, as The Mother excuses herself to go outside and talk it over with Max. In what amounts to a prayer, The Mother asks Max if it's alright to finally let him go, and Max assents (or at least, that's how The Mother takes it when a strong gust of wind suddenly kicks up).
Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean she's going to accept Louis's proposal, as she ultimately rejects him and heads back to Farhampton to meet her destiny. Sitting on her hotel balcony, she plaintively plays "La Vie En Rose" on the ukulele Max left her for her 21st birthday, and it's one of the most devastatingly gorgeous moments of the season, as Milioti's soulful voice rings out across the waves. Over her song, we see how the rest of the characters are dealing with the fallout from last week, as Marshall (Jason Segel) is red-eyed from crying, Lily (Alyson Hannigan) looks out the limo window, uncertain of her future, and Robin and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) sleep in separate beds, with the latter drinking the last drops of a bottle of scotch. And then there's Ted, who is revealed to be out on the adjoining balcony, listening to The Mother play, separated from the mystery woman by a partition. Future Ted explains that he would go on to hear The Mother sing "La Vie En Rose" many times over the years, but that this first time has always been his favorite.
Credit: CBS
The episode is as much a nod to Milioti's remarkable talents as it is to the show's own continuity. The Mother is illustrated as the absolute perfect match for Ted, as they share similar senses of wonderment and humor (she loves the "selfish/shellfish" joke Ted tells in the econ class, and she shares Ted's amusement at the concept of calling a bar "Puzzles"). Milioti is simply terrific in the role, illustrating precisely why Ted would fall in love with this particular woman, and inviting the audience to fall in love with her as well. I had initially been skeptical of the choice when it was revealed last season, but I can't really imagine anyone else in the role of The Mother now. It says a lot about her talent that I'd gladly watch a full series of her life in the buildup to meeting Ted. And we don't even know her name!
Credit: CBS
"How Your Mother Met Me" ends on a cliffhanger, as Ted finds that drunk Barney has disappeared into the night, but that seems of little significance when set against the larger context of just what this episode accomplishes. It essentially vindicates the entire series by showing that the nine-year wait hasn't been a waste. This is a woman who is absolutely worth the wait, and if we weren't stoked at the concept of Ted meeting her before, we should definitely be in deep anticipation for it now.